I am freaking out... my 1 1/2 year old little girl is losing her hair on top. It has been happening for about 6 months now. The more I do her hair it seems like it just gets worse. We have an appointment with the pediatrician tomorrow and my brother-in-law who is a dermatologist PA says it is probably Traction Alopecia... I just want to cry. My little girl can't have her hair fall out. What do I do?
I ended up taking my little girl to the pediatrician and he thought it was NOT traction alopecia which is hair loss from pulling her hair into pony tails, he thought it was from stress to her body from a high fever or something. But he also did blood work. I took her days later to my brother-in-law who is a dermatologist PA and he and his boss looked at it and said it IS from traction. Later that day her results came back and her iron is extremely low... so now we are on an iron supplement. I am hoping this is why and it will resolve itself, but deep down I am hoping there isn't something we are missing. I cannot put her hair in elastics so we can pray her hair will grow back in...
thanks to all who responded.
If you're putting ponytails on the top of her head, don't. Also, besides alopecia, it may be an infection, fungus or something else. Please let us know what is said.
K.,
Sorry to hear about this, it breaks my heart. I work with a pediatric dermatopathologist and she told me that a little one can have alopecia, but the first thing to do is rule out a fungal infection (i.e. tinea). The pediatric dermatologists at Children's are WONDERFUL. I would suggest making an appointment with one of them, specifically Lori Prok. She has clinic Wednesday afternoons there.
Good luck!
J.
I don't know if it's the same thing but...
my son is 2 and has never had a haircut (very short hair still!).. his hair is constantly breaking. I finally started giving him a really good kids whole foods multivitamin and a little liquid calcium/Magnesium/Zinc supplement... that was the ticket!! His hair completely quit breaking once we started the calcium stuff!!
HTH,
S.
K. F,
If you use Johnson & Johnson baby products I would stop use, it contains formaldahyde Q15 which is very toxic to our children, it is linked to causing cancer in young children. I would also not use ponies or clips for atleast a month, just brush her hair with a soft brush. Becareful with using any shampoos that contain Q15.
Hi K.. Could your daughter be lacking at all in her diet? That can cause hair loss. Do you give her a good multi vitamin or any mineral supplement? I have had good luck with one if you are interested. You can email me at ____@____.com. I don't know what Traction Alopecia is, but hopefully you can just correct it with diet or supplementation. Good luck!
Hi K.,
My daughter was 18 months old when all of her baby hair fell out (which freaked me out as well), but her pediatrician said that baby hair can fall out anytime before they turn 2. Sure enough, all the old stuff she'd been born with fell out (there was a little ring of new around the edges that stayed) and then all new grew right in. He said it was totally normal. She has had a head full ever since.
The hair they are born with is supposed to fall out. It just happens later for some kids. And for others it is very gradual so it’s not as obvious. Was she born bald and this is new hair or is this the hair she was born with? If it's all new hair, then seeing your doctor is a good plan. If it's just the old stuff, then it's doing its job! I hope that's all it is!
